Im a US citizen and am still confused with the current crypto tax interpretation. In October of 2017 I traded some litecoin for another crypto. Then in January 2018 the tax bill passed and eliminated the like to like exchanges of crypto.
My interpretation is that since I made the trade before the law changed then I did not create a taxable event. Am I wrong in this interpretation?
You probably need to talk to an accountant or tax attorney. Taken as a given that the tax law passed in January eliminated the like to like exchanges being a taxable event (and I'm taken this as a given because I don't actually know if this is true, as this is the first I've heard of it), but if true, it would make sense to me that you would not claim the exchange of Litecoin to another crypto as a taxable event because you're not calculating the tax burden until April and in April you use the laws that are current at that time, which would include the January change. It would be like if you owned a stock that pays dividends all year, in April of the next year you would have to calculate how much tax you owe on this dividend payments, but if in January the law changed and said dividends are tax free, I assume you would likewise not have to pay taxes on the dividends the previous year because as of the tax filing deadline, the law says no income tax on dividends.
However, this logic needs to be vetted by actual tax professionals. It's a shame that no response in this thread is even on point to the OP.